Process of manufacturing soaps



Patented J an. 14, 1936 PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SOAPS Walther Schrauth, Berlin-Dahlem, Germany, as-

signer, by mesne assignments, to Unichem Chemikalien Handels, A.-G., Zurich, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland No Drawing. Application April 24, 1931, Serial No. 532,685. In Germany November 19, 1928 5 Claims. (CL 87-9) The present invention relates to the manufacture of soap and has tor an object to provide an improved process for producing soap from spermaceti or sperm oil.

As a matter of laboratory practice it has been known that natural fats and waxes such for example as beeswax can be saponifled by melting with caustic alkali and that the alcohol produced by the saponiiication can be at the same time oxidized and converted into fatty acid alkalies or soaps. The procedure for accomplishing this result has heretofore involved heating the lat or wax with a surplus of lye and continuing the heat until the material became dry, a process which requires a temperature above 300 C. According to the literature on the subject, it is necessary to use a considerable excess 01' caustic alkali, that is to say a multiple of the amount theoretically required for carrying out the reaction. Heretoiore it has not been considered that the product produced as, for example, that pro duced from beeswax was of any technical use. On the one hand the surplus oi! alkali remaining after the reaction was completed rendered the product useless and on the other hand the products produced of high molecular weight had not been iound useful for washing.

I have-now discovered in accordance with the present invention that it is possible to obtain an effective soap from spermaceti or sperm oil by treating the same with the amount of alkali necessary for the saponiflcation oi the esters and the oxidation of the alcohols produced by treatment at temperatures between 200 and 280 C. The excess of the alkali over the amount necessary for carrying the reaction to completion should be very small. The alkalles used may be anhydrous or in the form of concentrated lyes.

The sperm oil or the like may be hydrogenated to saturate the unsaturated esters before saponiiication if desired.

The excess of alkali should be not more than that usually found desirable in the saponiflcation oi saponiiiable fats. The small amount of free alkali still present in the finished product may be neutralized by the addition a free fatty acid or abietic acid. The soap produced by this process may be converted into flakes, lumps, chips or powder or a liquid soap may be provided by the addition 01' water or organic solvents.

Example-1000 kgs. of sperm oil, either in natural condition or hydrogenated, is heated in a closed autoclave to a temperature of 200 C. The temperature is then increased to 280 C. and at the same time concentrated caustic soda lye is added in small increments until the normal saponiflcation is completed. The caustic soda lye is added by means of a suitable pump while the pressure is maintained in the autoclave. Care should be exercised that the alkali should not ex- 5 ceed by more than 1 or 2% that necessary lot the reaction. The hydrogen set free by the oxidation is removed from the autoclave. The saponiiication and the conversion of the fatty alcohols into alkali salts of fatty acids is finished when the alkalinity of the whole mass becomes constant. If for example, sperm oil used in this reaction has the saponiiication number 135, the complete conversion 0! the same into alkalis oi iatty acids according to this process will require 220-230 parts solid caustic alkali or about 160 parts caustic soda as such or in the form of caustic lye.

The soap produced may be removed through an, outlet and formed into cakes or sprayed through a blastpipe. It is also possible by addition or water or solvents to regulate the iatty acid contents of the soaps in an optional manner. Furthermore, other materials such as soda,

. Glauber salt, trisodium phosphate, etc., may be added to the soap.

The sperm oil as used in the above example may be replaced by natural spermaceti. If desired the caustic alkali employed in. the process may be first added to the spermaceti or the sperm oil and the mixture heated to cause the complete reaction.

I claim:

1. The process 0! producing soap irom sperm oil which comprises saponiiying the sperm oil and oxidizing the alcohols formed by treating the material with concentrated alkali at a temperature approximating 200 to 280 C., the quantity of the alkali being approximately 1 to 2% greater than that indicated by stoichiometric caldulations for the reaction.

2. The process of producing soap which comprises heating sperrn oil in an auto-clave to a temperature between 200 and 280 C. and reacting the sperm oil with caustic alkali to saponiiy the sperm oil and oxidize the alcohol formed while adding the alkali gradually at such a rate that the excess 01' alkali will not exceed 2%.

3. The process oi producing soap which com- 50 prises heating sperm oil in an auto-clave to a temperature between 200 and 280 C. and reacting the sperm oil with caustic alkali to saponiend or the reaction the excess of alkali will not exceed 2%.

4. The process of producing soap which comprises heating sperm oil in an auto-clave to a temperature approximating 200 C. then adding caustic alkali and saponiiying the sperm oil and oxidizing the alcohol-formed while raising the temperature to approximately 280 C., the amount of alkali added being such that at the end of the 5. The process of producing soap Irom spermaceti or sperm oil which comprises heating a mixture consisting of sperm oil and concentrated alkali to a temperature approximating 200 to 280 C., reacting the same at that temperature to saponii'y the sperm oil and oxidize the alcohol formed to convert the same to acids and to new tralize the acids to form soap, the alkali used being not more than approximately 2% more than that necessary 101' the reaction.

WALTHER SCHRAU'TH. 

